On his new all-white mask:
The other one started to grow mold, so I wore that one just for practice.
On using the bad smell of his other mask to ward off his opponents:
It’s a good trick. I keep it for the games, though. I don’t want to waste it on practice.
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Round 2
Yesterday, the NHL released the candidates of this season's league MVP in the running for the Hart Trophy. Among them is none other than Sidney Crosby whom, I believe, is quite deserving of it each year, but especially so this year!!!"It didn't matter who we were playing, he was there for us. He scored those crucial goals for us and he does everything that a captain should do to lead a team." -- Sergei Gonchar (on Sidney Crosby).
SIDNEY CROSBY - PITTSBURGH PENGUINSCrosby the playmaker became Crosby the shooter in his fifth NHL season, taking a career-high 298 shots (fifth-most in the League) and scoring a career-best 51 goals, one of the few statistical highlights he had yet to achieve. Crosby earned a share of the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the League's goal-scoring leader, splitting the honor with Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay.
Crosby led the Penguins and finished second in the NHL scoring race with 109 points, the fourth time in his five seasons he's hit the 100-point mark.
The litany of Crosby achievements in 2009-10 is impressive:
* In the second game of the season, Oct. 3, he became the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to reach 400 career points, reaching the mark with an assist against the Islanders in his 292nd game.
* On April 8, he earned his 500th career point, becoming the third-youngest player to reach the mark at 22 years, 244 days (Wayne Gretzky, 21 years, 52 days; Mario Lemieux, 22, years, 172 days).
* Crosby led the NHL with three hat tricks, becoming the first Penguin to accomplish the feat since Alexei Kovalev in 2001-02.
* He tied a single-game career high with 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) Jan. 19 against the Islanders, and he recorded a season-long nine-game point streak from Feb. 12-March 14, posting 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) during the span.
* Crosby led the League with 8 shootout goals and an 80-percent success rate
It wasn't all about scoring with Crosby. He ranked 11th in the League with a 55.9-percent faceoff winning percentage and led the NHL with 1,001 faceoff wins, 137 more than second-place Mikko Koivu of Minnesota (864).
This is Crosby's second Hart nomination, and he won the honor in 2006-07. Other Penguins to capture the Hart are Jaromir Jagr (1998-99) and Mario Lemieux (1987-88, 1992-93, 1995-96). Evgeni Malkin placed second in voting for the trophy in 2007-08.
The Penguins will be playing the Montreal Canadiens in the second round since the Caps lost to them tonight, 2-1..jpg)
ROUND 2 SCHEDULE (corrected)
The Penguins have some good news of their own in respect to injuries ... Jordan Leopold took part in his first practice with the team since taking the hit from Andy Sutton in Game 2 against Ottawa.
“It’s like a trade deadline acquisition: We’re adding a very good player to our mix for the next series. He’s an elite player. I’ll leave it up to (coach) Claude (Julien) as far as putting the lines together, and who plays and doesn’t play, but Marc is ready to go. We’ll see how his conditioning goes, but I know from talking to him he’s very anxious to play.This would definitely put an interesting twist on the next series if Pittsburgh ends up playing Boston!!
IF WASHINGTON WINS THE SERIES:
IF MONTREAL WINS THE SERIES:
CONNER
After being evasive about who the "go-to" goalie will be tonight, the Senators have finally announced their choice is to start Pascal Leclaire.“I’m excited,” Leclaire said. “It should be fun especially here. It’s a loud building. It’s a great challenge for our team and I’m definitely excited to be a part of it.”“When you’re on the ice it’s the same game,” Leclaire said. “It’s just louder in the stands and people have towels and stuff. The intensity is there. You have to make sure you’re aware of what’s going on and be ready for anything. When the puck is around your goal you have to follow that little black thing. That’s all you can do. I’ll try to control what I can control and that’s it.”
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Pens lead series 3-1
Top portion of the tattoo is dedicated to his grandmother. Kris says that she always has been there for him.
Bottom portion of the tattoo and the guitar part is obviously dedicated to Letang’s best friend and former roommate Luc Bourdon who used to play for Vancouver Canucks and tragically died in a motorcycle accident on May 29, 2008. During the 2008 NHL Draft, the Canucks’ management wore guitar pins to remember Bourdon, because he was an avid guitarist.
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Pens - 7, Sens - 4
The NHL announced the finalists for the 2009-10 Frank Selke Trophy today. The three players are Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings), Ryan Keslar (Vancouver Canucks), and Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh Penguins).Staal received plenty of ice time against the NHL's top centers in 2009-10, appearing in all 82 games and ranking third among Pittsburgh forwards in ice time per game (19:23), trailing only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He played more shorthanded minutes (274:08) than every NHL forward except St. Louis' Jay McClement (306:53). The 21-year-old also led the Penguins in plus-minus with a career-best +19 rating. Staal is a Selke finalist for the first time and will be making his second trip to the NHL Awards, having finished third in voting for the Calder Trophy as the League's top rookie in 2007.
The Penguins recently announced that they recalled AHL defenseman, Deryk Engelland.
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Pens - 4, Sens - 2
“It was just a hit like any other hit I’ve been doing this year,” said the 6-foot-5 Sutton. “I saw the guy’s head down. I moved towards him and I think it was a clean hit.”
For another "angle" on what went down from Ian Mendes, a reporter who actually was there to witness this, VISIT sportsnet.ca (who states that Sutton didn't come out to talk to the media already tense or on the defense). And to see the interview for yourself, CLICK HERE!!Asked if he’d seen a replay that “showed” Sutton got his elbow up, the blueliner got his back up.
“Are you asking me or are you telling me?,” Sutton shot back at the reporter.
“I’m asking you,” said the Pittsburgh-based writer. “It was on the replay.”
“So, you’re an expert,” replied Sutton. “So you say you saw it and you’re an expert? You’re not an expert.”
Sutton said he felt a hit by Sidney Crosby on Jarkko Ruutu in the third should have been penalized.“I think the hit on Jarkko was way worse and I got suspended for hitting Pascal Dupuis earlier this year for the exact same hit. I don’t know why mine’s going to be hotly contested,” said Sutton.
In what was a Dan Bylsma staple from last season, the Penguins did not skate in their normal line routine at Friday's morning skate - a move intended to hide the Penguins lineup for tonight's Game 2 showdown with the Ottawa Senators at Mellon Arena.SENATOR LINE / INJURY INFO
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Ottawa leads series 1-0
He returned with only two games left in the season after missing nine games with what was revealed on Thursday as a partially torn ACL.
He wanted to play in the playoffs, so after discussions, the Senators agreed.
Michalek hurt his knee in the second period of the first game of the series on Wednesday but he didn't leave the game.
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The new contract goes into effect at the start of the 2010-11 season and will run through 2011-12. Johnson will earn $600,000 in 2010-11 and $600,000 in 2011-12. With Johnson and Marc-Andre Fleury, who is signed through 2014-15, the Penguins have solidified their depth at the goaltending position.Which actually makes me a little sad because I was looking forward to having John Curry come up sooner rather than later even though I think Johnson is a great back-up (and a better option right now than Curry) ... but I just see something in Curry and I suppose that two years isn't unrealistic for him to stay with the baby Pens and grow more as a goaltender (I'm just hoping that it doesn't end up with another team which is always a possibility).
Since teams can move up a maximum of five spots, the only teams with a chance at gaining the top choice are the Oilers, Boston Bruins (who have Toronto's pick), Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Islanders.
The Oilers go into Tuesday's drawing with a 25 percent chance of winning the Lottery. And if a team outside the bottom five in the standings wins the Lottery, the Oilers will get the top choice, improving their odds to 48.2 percent.
The team with the fewest points in the League has won the Draft Lottery the last two years. League rules also dictate that no team can move backward more than one spot, so the Oilers will have at least the first or second pick.Among the more popular prospects are "NHL Central Scouting's two top-rated North American skaters," Tyler Seguin of the Plymouth Whalers (C) and Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spotfires (LW).
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This past Thursday, the NHL along with the Carolina Hurricanes announced that Raleigh, NC will be the host city for next season's 58th NHL All-Star game and festivities (January 29 - 30). The game is to be played on January 30th at the RBC Center.Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Ponikarovsky will forfeit $21,813.48. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
“I thought right away when I shot it that it hit Billy’s leg or pants or something,” Crosby said after the game. “I asked him right after and he said it went off his pants.”
Right after the puck went into the goal, Crosby excitedly pointed toward Guerin. Crosby even shook his head “no” on the bench as the Mellon Arena PA announced the goal in his favor.
“That is something that if it hits off him, you don’t want it,” Crosby said. “It’s not your goal. It would have been great to get it here but at the end of the day goals go to guys who deserve them. And he deserved that one.”
"Sidney indicated that the goal that would have been his 50th went off of Billy Guerin and into the net," head coach Dan Bylsma said. "The goal is officially Billy’s and not Sid’s 50th."
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